When you are moving close to a deadline you may start to feel anxious. This in turn can reduce the quality of your work. Believing that your remaining time is enough for you to produce a quality product can speed up the time with which you can accomplish your task, and improve the quality of the end product. Using lack of time for an excuse for not thinking straight is not helpful, we can accomplish much more if we believe in the quality of our work and our ability to perform. It can be useful to shift your perception of and relationship with time. Try some of the techniques below:
- Look at your relationship to perfection and procrastination think about whether fear is the source of your problems
- Watch busy people and learn from them, how do they manage to accomplish things effectively
- Set up basic and effective methods that work for tasks that occur routinely
- Use specific times for reading/writing emails
- Learn to say no
- If you still find yourself saying yes when you mean no try delaying your response “I’ll let you know”, “I’ll call you back”
- Be realistic about what you can achieve in a give time space
- Ask for help, delegate
- In your schedule allow time for the unexpected
- Use templates for administrative tasks that you do regularly
- Organise your workspace and keep it in order, don’t waste time looking for things
- Believe in yourself and your instincts, make decisions quickly
- Back up your work!
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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on October 26th, 2007 | No Comments »
One of the main benefits of proper time management is that it allows you to get done what you need to on time and in an efficient manner. This in turn not only will make your life a lot easier but also, as one might expect, a lot less stressful. Stress is a common symptom amongst any group of working individuals, however this does not have to be the case, all that is needed is a mixture of proper time management and taking time out every once and a while to relax. However whilst it is the case that how you manage your time will have one of the greatest impacts on lowering your stress levels, here are some other useful tips on relieving stress that you might find helpful.
We also offer a practical Stress Management course.
Take a deep breath.
This one may sound old and clichéd but there is a good reason for this. You’d be surprised just how relaxing it can be, take several if you need to, and just shut your eyes and take long drawn out breaths until you feel yourself relaxing.
Get perspective.
It may seem as though what you are concerned about now is the most important thing in the world, but I can almost guarantee it is not. Try and realise that some things are out of your control and that there is a difference not completing a task and failure.
Be an optimist.
If your one of those people that always sees the worst in a situation then try it the other way round for a change. Many people tend to have a very negative outlook when it comes to something as important as work and don’t realise how damaging that this can be. It will not only make it a lot harder to enjoy your job but is will also affect people around you and the working atmosphere in general, which will only make things worse.
Organise office.
Your office, or working area, is where you will get the bulk of your work done and consequently where you will spend the most time. If then it is the case that you can’t even remember what colour your office floor is then it might well be time for some spring cleaning.
Stay on top.
Don’t allow your self to be overcome by the work, know what you can and can’t handle and stick to your limits. If you have stretched yourself too far and are working on too many things at once then prioritise which ones are of the greatest importance to you and focus on that. There is no point in doing a dozen jobs badly, instead try for quality not quantity.
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Posted by Faye Binfield in Time Management Training on April 17th, 2009 | No Comments »
